I decided to start shredding old tax stuff from 2000 and before, and while I'm waiting for my shredder to "cool down", I thought I'd ask if anyone knew of a free (or very cheap) service that will do this on a larger scale. No local "community shred day event" that I can find. Only other option seems to be Staples at .89/lb.

On a side note, as I'm going through this stuff, I found a receipt from Staples from June of 2001 for a 30GB 7200rpm internal hard drive. It was on sale for $119.98.

Not a huge volume - just a box the size of a case of copy paper. I tried burning once years ago and it was slow and ashes went flying everywhere. I guess I was sloppy with the process. I'm finding info online about soaking in water/bleach for 24 hours. More than likely I'll just keep at it with the home shredder, just doing small batches at a time over time.

Burning paper flies all over. We even try to use very little in the wood stove to get a fire going ( those wax and sawdust cakes are nice ) . You have to have a screen that burn boxes are often made of. Our town does it twice a year. $5 a box. (reams of paper box)
We have a shredder. Was worth it when we had the business and generated tons of paper.
Now I'd probably burn the small amount we make in the bbq pit (with a screen).

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It seems like it depends on if your urban area has many large businesses that need shredding. Assuming your map location is current, I didn't see any in your town but there are several in the Boston, and two in Hanover.

The Credit Union around here has an industrial shredding company come in a few times a year for a "Shred Saturday." You can have all your stuff disposed of for free. Google and/or ask around, there may be one in your area.

QuoteWill Collier
The Credit Union around here has an industrial shredding company come in a few times a year for a "Shred Saturday." You can have all your stuff disposed of for free. Google and/or ask around, there may be one in your area.

Agree with the folks who suggest free community service if you're lucky enough to find one. We have a large but local bank chain here (suburb north of Chicago) that has four free "drive through" shredding days every year. Well organized. You drive up to a bucket-brigade of people who relay your boxes and bags to an on-site industrial shredder. They say they'll only take 20 lbs per car but I've never seen them actually weigh anybody's load.. Also -- check you local liquor store or Trader Joe's for empty wine boxes. They're exactly the right size for 8.5x11 paper so you can store your shredding up tidily. Came in very handy when we were closing out my inlaws' home. Mountains of old bank statements, etc. old enough to still have social security numbers on them!

There's an industrial shredder outfit in the L.A. area that does BYO personal shredding for cheap a couple of Fridays each month. It's like $3/box, up to like 8 or 10 boxes, and you get up to three free. It all depends on how busy they are, and who's working the window, but for throwing a few boxes in the car, you can't beat it. Trick I learned is to bring someone in the car w/ you to help average out the numbers. Sounds like AARP and other outfits may have similar availabilities in other areas.

I'm liking the bathtub ideas, not a fan burning stuff anymore... remember the backyard incinerators in the 50's & 60's? And burning the sugar cane husks in Hawaii? Air pollution is bad.

And on another side note, in the 90's, I remember chasing 2GB 7200RPM UWSCSI drives from $399 apiece down to about $150 each until starting to pop for larger drive sizes... of course there was also the $3500 gargantuan sized 150MB external from the 80's. How many TB's for under $100 these days???
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